abcnovels
Chapter 6: I Shouldn't Have Done That (6)
Chapter 6: I Shouldn't Have Done That (6)
Chapter 6: I Shouldn't Have Done That (6)
The messenger didn't slow down even after we left the city. People were extremely startled and leaped out of the way, and the guards called out to us as we passed the gate. I wondered if this was fine.
Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp.
Nevertheless, we left through the city gate, crossed the bridge, and entered the forest. The sun had already set, leaving our surroundings in complete darkness.
Beep.
I glanced at the flickering torch of the messenger before me and opened my Area Map again.
Checking the destination markers on my Map, it seemed quite far off—about the distance between the company and the city gate. No, maybe 1.5 times that distance.
Ah, I felt so nervous because the Quest didn't share the number of survivors. Would all of them already be dead as soon as I arrived?
I narrowed my eyes anxiously, wondering if I could make my horse run faster.
I had a light source, so I didn't absolutely need the guy's torch. What about the horse? Somehow, I suspected it would be fine going slightly faster.
As I was pondering, I lowered my body to give the horse a signal. The bounding movement of my hips strengthened, though not to the point where I couldn’t keep up with the rhythm.
“Huh?!”
My horse overtook the messenger and began going even faster. It would be a bit of a struggle for the horse, but since our way back wouldn’t need to be as hurried, I hoped it could hold out.
The messenger tried to catch up, but our distance only widened, as though our horses’ physical capabilities were themselves different.
Stomp, stomp, stomp.
By the time my horse began frothing at the mouth from exhaustion, I had almost reached the location indicated on the Map.
I could hear the scraping of metal and the squealing of Demons even over the sound of my horse’s hooves.
I could even see the torchlight of those fighting. The light let me know that there were still survivors to save.
“Victory to my blade…”
As I reflexively uttered this prayer, I had a brief thought. Should I stop riding the horse before joining the fray? Could I even fight on horseback?
“Glory to the heavens!”
Ah, whatever. Cavalry battle, here I come! The horse wouldn’t end up dying, anyway!
“It’s reinforcements!”
“Reinforcements?!”
The higher-ranking people fighting fiercely noticed me almost immediately as I rode in between them.
The blade of my sword cut through three Goblins simultaneously, and my horse stomped on two more, crushing their heads.
“Die, you scum!”
I then realized something: fighting on horseback would be impossible for me.
“Wh-what!”
“Just one person?!”
“I heard reinforcements had come!”
“Are we really going to survive?!”
It was too difficult to control the horse’s speed with just my legs and even harder to swing my sword from up here and cut those tiny Goblins to pieces.
Furthermore, it was late at night. While many light sources illuminated the area, distinguishing things was still much more difficult than during the day.
While I was sure I would get the hang of it with some practice, now wasn’t the time to experiment.
“Tsk.”
After making that judgment, I threw my Zweihänder toward one of the Goblin bastards and immediately jumped off my horse.
Falling off a horse at this speed would be pretty bad, but this was a game.
My body landed on a pile of Goblin corpses.
Thud!
As I hit the ground, I rolled to break the fall, feeling some slight pain. My HP also decreased a little, but I wasn’t suffering from any abnormal conditions. Good enough.
I recovered my sword, embedded in a Goblin’s skull, and swung. The two Goblins creeping closer to me were split in half.
When I looked up, I saw the horse run straight through the battlefield and into the forest.
?? People in Danger
? Move to the battle site
? Raiders eliminated: 8 / ??
? Subquest - Number of Survivors: 30 / 52?
Good. When I arrived, the Quest Window started displaying the exact number of survivors.
I quickly scanned the battlefield and tried to identify those most in danger, instinctively cutting down all approaching Goblins as I did so.
I saw fifteen wagons with the roofs torn off and people fighting atop them. Horses were lying around, only barely alive. Goblins were rushing in from all sides.
Were those wolves among the Goblins biting into some corpses?
[Dhole ? Cunning beasts that skillfully hunt in packs. Dholes tamed by Demons are even more ferocious and tenacious.]
According to the information on the floating Window, they weren’t exactly wolves but Dholes, though that wasn’t really too important.
“You’ve done well…”
I quickly switched gears to act out my character’s hatred.
It wasn’t my job to protect the wagons or merchandise, so I would only protect the people. I ignored places with a lot of people, suspecting they’d be able to survive on their own without me by helping each other out.
As such, I chose my first destination.
Baaam!
I ran to the very front while swinging my Zweihänder.
There were Goblins stabbing at me with rusty daggers in their bony limbs and Dholes trying to scratch and bite me, but none of that mattered. They were all brought down in a single swing anyway.
“W-watch the ground—!”
Thud!
As I swept across the right side of the lined-up wagons, one of their wheels rattled a bit before the ground caved in.
If there hadn’t been someone with a torch nearby, I would have missed it.
“…?!”
I was slightly taken aback as the ground I almost stepped onto did the same. However, I was fully capable of hiding these feelings. I wasn’t one to blank out from just a little surprise.
I calmly stepped to the side, placing my foot elsewhere, and thrust my blade into the center of the rising earth.
Squelch!
It struck into something solid yet soft.
?Olgoi-khorkhoi? A Demon that burrows through the ground with a body resembling the intestines of a sheep. It hunts prey by paralyzing it with poison secreted from its teeth.?
Looking at what I’d stabbed, I discovered my sword had pierced the head of a creature similar to a mealworm, albeit a hundred times larger.
I had wondered why all these people chose to stay inside their wagons, but now I realized it was probably because of that thing. The reason so many had died had to be because of its paralytic poison.
From that point on, I continued my massacre while watching my step. As everyone nearby had clustered inside that wagon, wielding my sword was much more effortless.
I soon doubled the number of Goblin corpses these people had already accumulated.
Squish! The Olgoi-khorkhoi crushed beneath my boots was another addition.
“Wh-what is that…”
“A monster…”
Kiiek.
Kieeeeek!
However, as I tore through them, I spotted a Goblin with a distinctly different color.
A Hobgoblin, much like the one in the sewers. I had mistaken it for a regular Goblin, hidden among all these wagons and in the dark of night.
A big fish.
Kiek?!
The Hobgoblin lifted its cane, emitting a black light that flowed toward the surrounding Goblins.
Considering its appearance, it was likely some type of buff. In that case, I couldn’t leave it alone. Supporters and Healers had to be eliminated first.
“I’ll tear you apart…!”
As soon as I located it, I charged.
The Goblins tried to hinder me, but I didn’t really have to care about them.
?[Survival Instinct] ? Experienced warriors must be able to take care of themselves on the battlefield, so their instinct tells them what path they should take to avoid attacks.
Effect: Suggest one avoidance route
Cooldown: 60 seconds?
I activated a skill I had chosen after leveling up recently.
As I did, a translucent arrow appeared before me, pointing out the path to avoid as many attacks as possible.
It wasn't a skill one would typically use in times like these, just a little trick.
Anyway, I immediately stepped on the side of a wagon and ran. The vehicle carried so many things that it didn't lurch even as I trod heavily.
Step, step, step!
After crossing two wagons, I reached a carriage and stepped on the railing, its narrowest part. The Hobgoblin, standing at the front, was right before me.
Kiek!!!
As I rushed over the wagons, Goblins jumped at me and dug in their claws. That much pain was bearable, though.
I put strength into the hand holding the sword and swung at them. The Goblins, who loyally sacrificed themselves to protect the Hobgoblin, became mere chunks of meat. As I leaped, I changed my grip to hold the sword in reverse before pushing down.
Stab!
Were all Hobgoblins destined to be impaled on this sword or something? This time, the Zweihänder’s blade pierced through its neck instead of its head.
Slash!
As the area I hit was a bit ambiguous, I split it in half by slashing my sword down.
Teaaaar.
The sword cut through the Hobgoblin’s body, exiting at the armpit and removing its arm as it did so before scratching over the floor and piercing the bodies of other Goblins behind it.
At that moment, I released its hilt and removed the Goblins and Olgoi-Khorkhoi from my body.
My HP had decreased quite a bit, allowing the paralytic poison to accumulate in my body to some extent. I was still stable, but things would become pretty dangerous if I were bitten three or four more times.
Throw.
I tossed aside the Goblins I held and drew my Longsword with my left hand. I was still removing those Demon scum attached to my arms, legs, and back with my right arm.
Kiek!!
But those guys were still alright, even though I had killed the boss.
Seeing that the Goblins weren’t panicking, I narrowed my eyes, realizing what I had missed.
With me on the right side of the wagons were now only Goblins and Olgoi-Khorkhoi, but on the left was one more Hobgoblin.
I’d failed to examine the battlefield properly.
* * *
* * *
“Urgh!”
Then an NPC fell from a wagon, their ankle bitten by an Olgoi-Khorkhoi.
“Tsk.”
I frowned and clicked my tongue emphatically as I threw my Longsword. Since I lacked the [Throwing] skill, its trajectory didn’t get corrected. As such, it landed a bit further away than I had aimed for, but it was enough for what I intended.
The sword blocked the Goblins from approaching the fallen NPC.
Pull.
Meanwhile, I quickly grabbed my Zweihänder and rushed forward. As I continued my massacre, the number of Goblins fell drastically, allowing me to charge through the battlefield more easily.
“Die…!”
I grabbed the tip of my sword’s hilt and swung it down from the top, making use of my wide reach.
Bang!
Two Goblins aiming for the NPC after avoiding my Longsword were split in half, right from their heads to their crotches.
“Hiiik!”
“Quick, pull him up!”
“Come on, hold on!”
“Hold his arm!”
The NPC who had just narrowly escaped his death became frightened, and those still on the wagon hurriedly grabbed his arms. After being pulled back up, he immediately fell into the wagon.
Kieeek, kik!
That was enough for now, so I commenced my hunt for the remaining Hobgoblin.
I was glad the path the arrow had shown me matched up. I retrieved the Longsword I had thrown and swung it sideways. The head of a Goblin leaping at me was cut off and rolled to the side.
Shik.
After decapitating the Goblin, I sheathed the Longsword once more. Phew. Even I thought that was extremely cool.
Scraaatch.
The Zweihänder I held with one hand scraped lightly over the ground before I grabbed it with my other hand, as well, and raised it into the air. I stepped over the corpses of the Goblins around me.
Kieeeek!!!!
That marked the end of my charge. Sensing its life was in danger, the Hobgoblin called out to the Goblins before me.
Not that it slowed me down. I lifted my sword with the blade’s tip pointing forward, almost level with the ground, when I was about one meter away from it.
Stab!
With a couple of Goblins attached to my shoulders, I pierced the hearts of three others, along with the Hobgoblin.
Kiek!
Kiekik!!
“I-it’s dead…”
“The Demons are…”
Soon after I killed that thing, the Goblins began to run around in confusion.
Slit.
I pulled out my bloodied Longsword once more and slashed off the Hobgoblin’s head—just in case—before chasing and killing the fleeing Demons. The Goblins clinging to my body or jumping up and down on corpses quickly fled to the other side of the forest in a panic.
“Where are you going…!”
Would it fit my setting if I pursued those escaping and ripped them apart, or should I help these people recover?
Spit.
While fighting those bastards, their blood and even some of their flesh had gotten in my mouth. I picked up my Zweihänder, which I’d left unattended, before spitting it out. That was the disadvantage of a game being too realistic, I guess.
The number of survivors, which I checked covertly, remained at 27.
“I-I’m alive…”
“Aah, thank god…”
“Who the hell is that…?”
Ah, right, the mercenaries. Hadn’t someone said they would hire some mercenaries separately?
That should have been the case if I remembered right, but I didn’t know when they would arrive. The messenger, who’d recovered the runaway horse, managed to meet up with me.
“Uwaaaarg!”
Anyway, that seemed to be the mercenaries, so it would be fitting for me to join them first. But when I stepped forward with such thoughts, a heated scream penetrated my ears.
“The Demons have invaded!”
“I-isn’t there any medicine?!”
“We have some sedatives…!”
I remembered a certain game setting, albeit too late.
?Demonic Erosion ? A person attacked by Demons has a certain probability of being eroded by their Demonic Energy.
As the erosion level increases, they will be afflicted with various status effects and, in severe cases, may turn into a Demon themselves.?
Whenever I took damage from a Demon’s attack in the original game, there was a set chance that I would accumulate erosion. If I remembered correctly, one would get afflicted with a new status effect every 10 percent.
However, it wasn’t too hard to manage. I’d get better after taking some medicine from the Temple or getting Purified.
Incidentally, I didn’t really have to worry about that as a Demon Knight. Perhaps due to already harboring a Demon in my arm, my erosion level would never increase at all!
“Take it.”
“What?”
I actually had some medicine on me now.
Was it a starter item provided to all players regardless of class? They gave it to me despite being completely useless for Demon Knights.
?Demonic Energy Neutralizer ? A pill that Purifies the Demonic Energy eroding a person. It calms the panic caused by Demons and temporarily grants tranquility to the user.?
In any case, I threw the pill bottle I had on me toward him. Each bottle had ten pills, so I was sure it would work.
“Thank… Th-thank you for this!”
"Medicine?!"
It might be a bit of a waste as one bottle was quite expensive, but seeing the NPCs’ faces filled with such genuine and realistic gratitude made me proud.
Yeah, I don’t need anything in return. Just being able to save these NPCs was good enough.
Moreover, someone who had lost his family to and been eroded by Demons himself wouldn’t just stand idle if someone was about to suffer the same fate. So this didn’t go against my interpretation of the character at all. It was absolutely perfect.
“Are there any more bandages?!”
“Damn it, we’re running out of sedatives…”
“Is that all the Demonic Energy Neutralizer we have?!”
“Th-that’s all he gave me.”
“That’s…”
But it seemed they needed more.
I hesitantly gave up going into the dark forest and eventually turned toward the wagon.
Scrape.
The sword I held rubbed against my leather glove before returning to its sheath.
Throw.
“This?!”
“Use it.”
Estimating the amount needed by the number of people left, I tossed one more bottle of Demonic Energy Neutralizer their way and passed the starter item bandages to the person needing them.
I had wondered why I was given so many starter items, but it seemed this was their intended use.
“Th-thank you very much!”
It wasn’t something they had to thank me for because they were things the game provided me with. Rather, if I charged that old man for these things, would he actually pay me back?
The game was so well-made that I was actually incredibly confused.
Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp.
“Ah, it’s the reinforcement!”
Just in time, I could see the mercenaries approaching us from a distance. More precisely, I could see the torches they carried.
With that, the Quest was over.